Worship by the Lake Shore Lake Harriet Bandshell Service Sunday August 17th, 2003

Down by the shoreline gathered a stream of people, amongst the sailing regatta, glistening waves of lake water, sheltered from an ever  brilliant sunshine this glorious August day. With summer nearing the end of its term, a crowd surrounded the Lake Harriet Bandshell for a spell last Sunday sharing  in a ceremony sponsored by the  SJA  Prayer Partners and Musicians. The Minneapolis Parks offers this venue each Sunday of summer for worship of all denominations throughout the Twin Cities.  And each  year St. Joan of Arc participates.

These ‘Summer Sundays’ create a chance to experience a variety of services. The leisure atmosphere allows  a sense of contentment among those gathered on blankets- including babies, children and dogs. The slow pace of summer services fosters a bit of straying for both canine and human participants.

Mark Scannell, Rachael Kroog and Karin Grosscup were our presenters this year.  The talented Joe Chouinard, Bob Hansen, Deb Harley, Steve Kremer and Julie Madden complimented the service with their harmonious music. They all represented our parish and opened with  the familiar  call: "Whoever You Are, Wherever you are , We Welcome You."

Mark Scannell presided at the service with references to SJA's year-to-date challenges with such issues as the war we opposed and controversy with the Archdiocese. And in the beauty of the surroundings he invited the crowd, of possibly 500, to open the service by reciting the SJA mission statement.

Mark Scannell and Karin Grosscup

Mark also acknowledged the need to give thanks for the miracles of creation around us. With the environment in sight, we concentrated on the colors of the earth, depths of the water, comfort of sunsets, greenery from foliage and relished  God's love for us. We explored through the examples of various elements the abundance of diversity and accumulative beauty. Mark drew attention to universal troubles  with war across the world along with our own country's  poor and hungry.  He emphasized the need to connect with our humankind and reach out in prayer for help.

  Rachel Kroog invited our youth parishioners, Kristin and Leah Kremer and Amy  Stockhaus, to sing along with her in the song "From a Distance". Rachel pointed out her observation that we need to “Take God out from ‘there’ and put him in here(pointing to her heart)”. And with that, their song filled  the air with the words:   "With the voice of Hope, the voice of peace, the voice of everyone....."

Karin and Mark read the readings Psalm 139, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, "The Cost of Discipleship", and 1 Corinthians 12;12-21. These readings included a message of comfort knowing that God knows all and is always watching.

Rachel Kroog  performed a story time with a theme based  on the song "Love Can Build a Bridge". She invited  the children to the front of the stage  to listen. With her puppet Squeaky, Rachel dialoged a lesson in tolerance of those you love. The kids learned to create new bridges by knocking down walls and building new relationships.

Rachel said "We need to humble ourselves and 'walk a mile in someone else's shoes'." She challenged anyone there to come forward and take a suggestion slip from a collection of ideas on how to 'reach out' and become more involved. Some of the kid's examples were: to meet new friends of different skin color, visit Grace House, visit a nursing home and share music.  Rachel is quite skilled in stirring passionate dreams and delivering examples  to an audience of both children and adults.  The story time was finalized with the song "Love Can Build a Bridge" as the kids marched under a building block bridge symbolizing the  possibilities of meeting new challenges .

A prayer followed from "The Angels and the Furies" by May Sarton while a collection was  taken. The proceeds went partly to cover service costs along with a donation to the new Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery opening on 46th Street & 4th Avenue.

Concluding the worship service was a communal reading of the Guatemalan Peace Prayer: "El Via Crucis Economico”.

O God, we ask forgiveness for our failure to raise our voices as we should.

Holy Spirit, anoint us as faithful advocates.

We pray for governments to represent the demands of ordinary people,

especially those who are silenced because of poverty or gender.

And that all people will declare that the word of God-

-not the 'laws of economics’ - shall govern humanity.

We pray for the restoration of our broken relationships.

Amen

Peg LaSota comes from a photography background. She now works in the digital world, computer instruction, and with "videography" and the restoration of family films. She is enthusiastic about capturing family memories and preserving them digitally. Along with that, her time is spent with her family and her love for learning Spanish, piano, recorder.....and of course singing with the choir!

In retrospect it was rewarding to pause and take stock of the good things we have in our life. To look inward and find a place to put all that we absorb from the surroundings at the lake service. Hopefully we'll be able to tap into it at a time we clearly need its sense of balance, peace, and serenity.

Bill Cameron was a pilot at Northwest Airlines for 32 years until his retirement in June of 2001. Also an attorney, Bill now practices law about half-time. The rest of his time is spent taking pictures (... a serious photography habit), playing tennis, and working on volunteer projects. Bill's wife Connie is an educational consultant and they have three adult sons.